Along the central and north coast of Peru, the earliest
monumental architecture and the earliest complex societies in the
Americas are evidenced. The monuments of the region represent an
important archaeological record of early socio-political organization
and the development of polities in the Americas. The monuments are our
primary evidence of the earliest expressions of complexity along the
Peruvian Coast.

In this paper I describe the early monumental architecture,
discuss its utility in interpreting the scale and the socio-political
organization of the societies that created it, and present the
variation among recent authors in their interpretation of the record.
After discussing chronology I present descriptions first of the
Preceramic period monuments in chronological sequence, followed by the
Initial period monuments geographically ordered. I then discuss
chronological and other patterns in monument types and locations. Next
I discuss some factors of the monuments useful to understanding the
social and political organization of their builders. Finally, I compare
and comment on the diverse interpretations that modern authors have
presented regarding the social and political organizations represented
by the monumental architecture, and discuss what underlies the
disparity in their viewpoints.

Coastal Peru is a unique geographic area. Over 50 rivers flow
to the Pacific from the western Andean cordillera, transecting dry
desert environments and forming linear oases. Figure 1 depicts the
relative locations of the important drainages mentioned herein and
illustrates the general pattern of the coastal drainages. Rainfall in
the Andes is markedly seasonal, occurring in the summer from about
November to April at the higher elevations and east of the Andes, but
only very rarely on the Pacific littoral. The many circumscribed
coastal valleys are surrounded by barren desert, the cold Pacific Ocean
and the towering Andes.

Fronting this driest of deserts is the world's richest
fishery. Inclusion of the large quantities of available small fish
along the Peruvian coast in resource inventories allows a theoretical
population level of over 1 million persons (Feldman 1985:73). Fish and
other maritime resources provided the subsistence base for the coastal
populations prior to the shift to irrigation dependent agriculture
around 1800 B.C. (Moseley 1975:9). Andean agriculture had an early
inception. Upper Santa River rock shelter deposits evidence cultivation
of beans between 8500 and 5500 B.C. (Moseley 1978:509). Floodplain
agriculture was later augmented by irrigation systems. In the coastal
valleys the first evidence of social complexity appears around 5000
years ago, near the time of the shift to agriculturally dependent
subsistence (Kornbacher 1999:294).

CHRONOLOGY

Two chronological systems are in use for Peru. Rowe's (1962)
eschews evolutionary theory and defines a Preceramic period followed by
an Initial period, while that of Lumbreras (1974) is linked to
perceived evolutionary cultural epochs (Quilter 1991:391). Rowe (1962)
linked his chronology to the well-known ceramic sequence in the Ica
Valley because we had the best start towards establishing a detailed
chronology of the pottery styles of that valley. Pottery, the marker of
the onset of the Initial period, appears in the Ica Valley around 1800
B.C. Rowe's chronological system was modified by Lanning (1967) using
then available radiocarbon dates. I will follow the widely accepted
Rowe-Lanning framework, wherein the Initial period, dating from 1800
B.C. to 900 B.C., follows the Preceramic period (Pozorski and Pozorski
1987a:6-8). (Herein all B.C. dates are calendar dates, and all B.P.
dates are uncalibrated radiocarbon measurements.) A Cotton Preceramic
period, later proposed by Moseley (1975:21), has gained wide acceptance
(Quilter 1991:393). Pozorski and Pozorski (1987a:8) attached dates of
2500 B.C. to 1800 B.C. to this early period (Moseley 1992:99). The
Early horizon spans from 900 B.C. to 200 B.C.

In this paper I am concerned only with the monuments
constructed before the Early horizon, a temporal span over 2000 years
long. I separate the monument descriptions between the Preceramic and
Initial periods. The advent of ceramics along the Peruvian coast is
coincidental with the subsistence shift to irrigation agriculture, the
concomitant shift from shoreline to inland monument location, and
changes in both monument size and form. The chronological periods
therefore provide both a convenient and an appropriate line of
demarcation for the descriptions of the monuments.

Most of the chronologies developed for the north coast of Peru
pertain to specific valleys or to Pan-Andean chronologies. Dates from
the Moche, Chicama and Virú River valleys provide an approximate
north coast sequence (Watson 1986:83). Ceramics are found on the north
coast around 2100-2000 B.C. and cotton textiles appear around 2500-2400
B.C. (Watson 1986:83). Highland sites attributed to the Initial period
due to first appearance of pottery cluster around 1000 BC (Pozorski and
Pozorski 1987c:38). As can be seen, local chronologies are very
distinct in this region and the use of regional chronologies would only
add confusion. Therefore all references to the Preceramic and Initial
period refers to the 1800 B.C. boundary.

THE PRECERAMIC MONUMENTS

Coastal Late Preceramic Peru, between about 2500 and 1800
B.C., is characterized by, among other items, large architectural
complexes, the emergence of nonegalitarian societies, intensified
domesticated plant use, and increased exchange between environmental
zones (Quilter 1991:387). Estimates of residential populations at the
maritime Preceramic centers range from 1000 to 3000 people, with
overall population during the Late Preceramic 30 times the earlier
hunter-gatherer adaptation (Burger 1992:33). Much descriptive work and
chronology building remains to be accomplished for the Preceramic
(Quilter 1991:391). In coastal Peru monument building is first
evidenced around 3100 B.C. (Kornbacher 1999:294). Early Andean
ceremonial complexes in the third millennium B.C. provide the
foundation for later developments, but there is little consensus
regarding possible origins. With no local precedent there is a
relatively sudden appearance of massive monuments, at a time
corresponding to sea level stabilization around 3000 B.C. (Moseley
1985:35).

The largest concentration of early corporate constructions
existed between the Chicama and the Rimac Valleys (Moseley 1978:510).
Corporate labor construction is defined as a building or architectural
feature believed to be the product of an organized work force larger
than several nuclear families (Moseley and Willey 1973:459). The amount
of corporate labor structure at Aspero suggests the beginnings of a
complex, nonegalitarian society (Moseley and Willey 1973:453). The
Aspero site, in the Supe drainage near the Pacific shoreline with
nearby floodwater farmland, represents one of the earliest Preceramic
period monumental constructions (Feldman 1987:10; Burger 1992:230) and
one of the largest Preceramic period settlements in Peru (Feldman
1985:71).

The Aspero site has 150,000 to 200,000 cubic meters of
cultural deposits (Feldman 1985:73). It covered 13.2 ha and had 6
truncated pyramids among the 17 mounds. The largest, called Huaca de
los Idolos, measured 40 m by 30 m by 10.7 m high and was topped with
summit rooms and courts (Figure 2) (Feldman 1985:73; Fung Pineda
1988:79; Kornbacher 1999:292; Moseley 1978:510). The raised platforms
feature modeled and painted clay friezes. The mounds evidence cobble
and basalt block masonry and adobe construction. They are composed of
successive phases of stonewalled rooms, built by progressive infilling
of rooms. The outer platform walls are of large, angular basaltic rocks
set in adobe mortar with a smooth outer surface coated with plaster and
occasionally painted (Feldman 1985:73; Fung Pineda 1988:79; Moseley and
Willey 1973:459). Huaca de los Sacrificios is similar in size to Huaca
de Los Idolos, has rooms over 10 m square, and has stone walls over 1 m
thick and 2.5 m high, with stones almost 1 sq. m in volume (Feldman
1985:84).

Figure 2. Isometric Reconstruction of the Huaca de los Idolos
at Aspero.

The Aspero site yielded the earliest date of all Early horizon
structures (Moseley and Willey 1973:465). Dating is available for the
two largest platform mounds. The Huaca de los Idolos radiocarbon
measurements span from 4900 ± 160 B.P. to 3970 ± 145 B.P.
Those from Huaca de los Sacrificios span from 4260 ± 150 B.P. to
3950 ± 150 B.P. The latter phases of constructions at Aspero are
dated to between 4360 ± 175 B.P. and 3950 ± 150 B.P.
(Feldman 1985:71). See Tables 1 and 2 (below) for a complete listing of
uncalibrated radiocarbon measurements for the sites discussed herein,
their sources and a comparative chart of the temporal spans of the
measurements for specific sites.

Among the other earliest stone buildings are those of
Río Seco and Bandurria (Fung Pineda 1988:79). Bandurria, a
Preceramic period site near the shoreline of the Huaura River; has an
unexcavated pyramid mound (Fung Pineda 1988:79). The available
Bandurria dates span from 4530 ± 80 B.P. to 4300 ± 90
B.P. (Fung Pineda 1988:95). Río Seco is near the Pacific Ocean
shoreline and the Chancay River. The Preceramic period constructions
there include five or six pyramid mounds built by successive room
filling, with two mounds measuring 10 m to 15 m in diameter by 3 m in
height (Fung Pineda 1988:77; Moseley and Willey 1973:465).

Huaca Prieta in the Chicama River valley is a Preceramic
shoreline village dating from 4380 ± 270 B.P., with four dates
spanning to 4044 ± 300 B.P. (Bird et al. 1985:53; Kornbacher
1999:293). The monument is an accretionary mound 150 m by 125 m by 12 m
high, built with rounded cobbles (Kornbacher 1999:293).

The closest similarity to and greatest continuity with the
Aspero site is seen at Las Haldas (Moseley and Willey 1973:465). Las
Haldas is located on the shoreline, 100 m from the Pacific Ocean and 20
km south of the Casma River mouth (Matsuzama 1978, Pozorski and
Pozorski 1987b:16). The site had successive periods of occupation, as
evidenced by radiocarbon measures spanning from 3960 ± 80 B.P.
to 2360 ± 90 B.P. (Pozorski and Pozorski 1987b:10; Watson
1986:98). Engel determined that the Initial period corporate
construction dates to 3800 ± 80 B.P. (Grieder 1975:99).

Cerro Sechín, near the Casma River, also had successive
occupation and monument enlargement after the Preceramic period. Mural
art, painted felines, and other polychrome painting on clay plaster
relief carving are associated with the earliest construction, an
approximately 34 m square and 4.5 m high, triple-stepped platform
(Fuchs 1997:146; Samaniego et al. 1985:173-176). The leveling near the
monument has been dated to 3820 ± 50 B.P. (Fuchs 1997:158).

El Paraíso, situated 2 km inland from the mouth of the
Chillón River and adjacent to floodplain cultivation land, was
the largest of the Preceramic period monuments, and, at three times
larger than any of its contemporaries, was once the largest expression
of organization and labor investment in all of South America (Moseley
1978:512). Radiocarbon dates span from 3790 ± 100 B.P. to 3020
± 60 B.P. (Quilter 1985:281). The site is comprised of thirteen
or fourteen mounds spaced over a 60 ha area with a nuclear group of
seven mounds (Fung Pineda 1988:72). The nuclear group forms an
approximate U-shape with the largest mounds on the arms framing a plaza
(Moseley 1985:46, Fung Pineda 1988:72). These two largest structures
are parallel, 400 m in length and 180 m apart, suggesting a 7.2 ha
courtyard/plaza (Quilter 1985:281). Though the central monument is not
the largest, this U-shaped form may be the prototype of later U-shaped
Initial period complexes (Figure 3) (Burger 1992:61; Quilter 1985:281).
Of U-shaped complexes El Paraíso is the closest to the sea
(Moseley 1985:46).

El Paraíso is considered a residential complex; the two
large mounds were used for habitation. It resembles later residential
architecture, and no artifacts anomalous to domestic use are known
(Moseley and Willey 1973:464; Williams 1980:101). The architecture
includes courts and rooms interconnected by corridors (Moseley
1978:512). At the same time the site manifests a high degree of
planning and is uniformly oriented 25° east of north, perpendicular
to the 1500 B.C. solstice sunrise, as is the Piedra Parada site, located
two miles inland from Aspero (Quilter 1991:417). El Paraíso's
one-meter-thick stone walls were plastered with clay. Stone was
quarried from nearby hills and roughly trimmed (Quilter 1991:401).
Filling and superposition on previous constructs occurred. Constructed
entirely of monumental masonry, the mounds exceed 100,000 tons in gross
weight (Moseley 1985:46).

Huaca La Florida was built south of El Paraíso in the
nearby Rimac Valley, possibly by the same corporate organization
(Moseley 1978:515). With dates from 3680 ± 85 B.P. to 3645
± 120 B.P., La Florida's initial construction dates to well
before other U-shaped mounds built in the area, with initial
construction before 2150 B.C. and abandonment by 1750 B.C. (Patterson
1985:65). Length of occupation suggested is 300-400 years, a relatively
short period compared to other sites (Quilter 1985:294). Huaca la
Florida, at 250 m wide by 50-60 m deep by 30 m tall, was also the
largest monument of its time, disproportionately large compared to
contemporaries. The mound was built in series, entombing prior stages
(Patterson 1985:59). Low arms extend from the wings for about 500 m.,
framing a large plaza that could have held 100,000 people (Fung Pineda
1988:90). The main platform has a sunken atrium facing the plaza. La
Florida's volume exceeds one million cu. m (Patterson 1985:59). Stone
walls at the site were covered with clay plaster and painted yellow and
red (Quilter 1985:283).

THE INITIAL PERIOD MONUMENTS

The Initial period frontier lies to the north of the
Lambayeque-La Leche drainage, the northern limit of the Cupisnique
culture and of societies engaging in large-scale architecture. The La
Leche River is the northernmost of the coastal drainages that has a
center with monumental architecture (Shimada 1981:406). There is no
evidence of Initial period monumental architecture south of the
Lurín Valley. The existence of early Initial period inland mound
sites sharing patterns of structure and form of major mounds in
virtually all north coast to central coast valleys suggests a rapid and
widespread change in subsistence pattern to irrigation agriculture,
just as other innovations, such as in textiles and ceramics, had spread
rapidly along the coast (S. Pozorski 1987:28). At least 30 Initial
period sites include truly monumental architecture (Kornbacher
1999:294), a greater number than will be discussed in detail herein. I
will describe and discuss the most significant of these sites and those
most relevant to the analyses to follow, in sequence with northernmost
first.

Purulén, in the Zaña River valley; at 300 ha
with 15 mounds, is the largest known Initial period site on the north
coast, from the La Leche to the Santa River valley. Purulén's
superimposed stone platforms have sunken courts on the summit and
large, inset staircases leading to rectangular forecourts, and lateral
buildings. The site dates to around 3120 ± 80 B.P. (Burger
1992:231). In the Jequetepeque River valley the largest complex,
Limoncarro, has a U-shaped mound with a three-tiered central platform 5
m high, two lateral mounds, a 500 m by 500 m plaza, and adobe sculpture
decorations.

An important concentration of north coast Initial period
monuments occurs in the Moche River drainage at Caballo Muerto. Huaca
do los Reyes is the largest and best preserved of eight mound complexes
in the 2 sq. km group (Fung Pineda 1988:89), and consists of two
contiguous mounds covering 230 m by 240 m. The mounds eventually
included parallel wings enclosing three sides of a plaza area (T.
Pozorski 1980:100-101). Huaca de los Reyes is distinguished at the
Caballo Muerto complex by numerous friezes facing its plaza (T.
Pozorski 1980:104). Construction dates to between 1400 and 1500 B.C.
(Watson 1986:84). The site has produced radiocarbon measurements dating
from 3680 ± 80 B.P. to 2800 ± 60 B.P. (Burger 1992:231).

Cerro Blanco, located 18 km from the Nepeña River
mouth, consists of an asymmetrical U-shaped plan with a central mound
200 m by 190 m in extent by 15 m high. The upper platform measures 120
m by 95 m (Bischof 1997:205-207). Further south the Santa River, the
largest coastal stream, penetrates the Cordillera Negra, one of the few
coastal drainages to transect the western range of the Andes. La
Galgada is situated along the tributary Tablachaca River at 1000 m in
elevation and 40 km inland, at a midpoint between the Pacific Ocean and
the Marañon drainage of the Amazon Basin. La Galgada has twelve
calibrated radiocarbon measurements between 4110 ± 50 B.P. and
3130 ± 80 B.P. (Grieder and Mendoza 1885:93). Construction
included a terraced platform mound with rounded corners fronted by a
circular courtyard.

The Casma Valley contains the largest concentration of
Preceramic period, Initial period and Early horizon sites along the
Peruvian coast (Pozorski and Pozorski 1987b:2). The largest of the
Casma Valley sites is Sechín Alto (Figure 4). With a U-shaped
monument plan covering about 200 ha, it is one of the largest
constructions ever built in Prehispanic America (Burger 1992:77). Five
plazas extend 1.4 km from the central mound, three with central sunken
courts, one of which is about 80 m in diameter (Fung Pineda 1988:87).
The main mound is 44 m high by 300 m by 250 m., making it the largest
single construction in the New World during the second millennium B.C.
(Burger 1992:80). The mound was faced with granite blocks, some
weighing over 2 tons. Sechín Alto's great size may represent a
1000 year span of building (Burger 1992:82).

The nearby Moxeke-Pampa de las Llamas complex covers about 220
ha with two major platform mounds and intervening terraced plazas on
the site's 1.1 km long centerline (Pozorski and Pozorski 1987b:31). The
Moxeke mound measures 170 m by 160 m by 30 m., is tiered with rounded
corners, has several terraces and a central atrium (Pozorski and
Pozorski 1987b:33). The final rebuilding used massive stone blocks,
including carefully shaped and polished square ashlars. The front wall
has enormous niches with high relief sculpture. Huaca A, at the
northeast end of the plazas, measures about 135 m by 120 m by 12 m and
is slightly rhomboid in shape. This tiered platform is symmetrically
covered by chambers. Huge, low-relief clay friezes of felines decorate
the building entrance. The mound is fronted on the centerline by a
sunken plaza and a stone platform with a circular stone court (Pozorski
and Pozorski 1987b:33).

The Cerro Sechín complex covered 5 ha. The Initial
period reconstruction of the pyramid measures about 53 m on each side.
It was faced with a 4.15 m high granite retaining wall (Samaniego et
al. 1985:166) displaying 400 sculptures, more stone carving than at any
other Initial period site. The reconstruction and stone facing was
completed and repaired before 3500 ± 55 B.P. and in use until
3240 ± 20 B.P. according to available radiocarbon measurements,
then reoccupied several centuries later (Fuchs 1997:158-159).

Huerequeque was built during the Initial Period on the north
bank of the Sechín River, and abandoned during late Initial
period. Sechín Bajo's construction follows Huerequeque.
Sechín Bajo's main structure measures 150 m by 110 m by 16 tall,
is symmetrical along the central axis, and is oriented the same as
Sechín Alto and Taukachi-Konkán, yet another nearby
complex. Taukachi-Konkán, is similar to Sechín Alto, with
a central mound, plazas and sunken court in linear arrangement (S.
Pozorski 1987:22). Las Haldas, on the Pacific shoreline, only 20 km
south of the Casma River, also has late Initial period U-shaped
construction similar to Sechín Alto, but smaller in scale
(Burger 1992). Its central area is dominated by a large mound and plaza
area flanked by smaller, substantial mounds (Pozorski and Pozorski
1987b:16). The large concentration of Initial period Casma monuments
(Figure 5) is located in the lower valley where the alluvial plain
widens and most of the good, irrigable land is found (Burger 1992:85).

In the Pativilca River valley two large U-shaped complexes are
situated, Estación and San José, a 100 m by 100 m mound
with a 50 m circular plaza (Feldman 1985:84).

The Supe River valley contains 36 sunken courts at 30 sites,
stretching 40 km inland from the coast (Fung Pineda 1988:81). According
to Williams (1985:235), in the Supe drainage there are at least 30
sites with combinations of pyramids and circular courts, with the
sunken feature becoming more important relative to the mound over time
and increasing in relative size. Caral (Chupacigarro Grande), an
elongated, rectangular platform mound 175 m long and 20 m high and
fronted by a sunken circular court, is the largest corporate expression
in the Supe, Pativilca and Fortaleza valleys (Moseley 1978:516).

In the Huaura River valley Huaura is the largest U-shaped
complex and one of the largest plans of this style in extent, with a 27
ha plaza. The smaller Huayabal U-shaped complex is a replica of Huaura
with a 6 ha plaza (Williams 1980:98-107). In the Chancay River valley
San Jacinto, the largest central coast U-shaped complex, has a 500 m
wide by 600 m long plaza. Up to two million cubic meters of soil was
moved just to level the 30 ha plaza, with an average level alteration
of about 6 m (Williams 1980:101-107). Five U-shaped structures located
within a 2.5 km radius of San Jacinto mound share a common orientation
and a similar plan (Williams 1985:232). Also in the Chancay Valley, the
Miraflores complex has a 20 ha plaza.

The Chillón and Rimac Rivers terminate on the same
coastal plain, the site of modern day Lima. Here Garagay was
established after La Florida was abandoned. Garagay's radiocarbon
measurements range from 3340 ± 70 B.P. To 2730 ± 70 B.P.
(Burger 1992:232). The surviving portion of the site covers 16 ha,
including the 9 ha central plaza (Fung Pineda 1988:90). Garagay is a
stepped, flat-topped pyramid with plastered stone exterior, 385 m wide
by 155 m by 23 m high, with a small circular court in front of the
pyramid and lateral mounds. An atrium was set into the summit. The
penultimate construct phase, the Middle Temple, had an atrium 24 m
square, with 1.6 m high, sloped walls (Fung Pineda 1988:91). Summit
buildings with clay frieze adornment were unearthed for both the
penultimate and final phases of construction (Burger and Salazar-Burger
1998:32).

Along the Lurín River six U-shaped complexes are known
(Burger and Salazar-Burger 1998:31). Mina Perdida, by far the largest
at 30 ha, of which half is covered by architecture, is dominated by the
central platform rising to 23 m (Williams 1980:103, Burger and Burger
1998:33). The Main pyramid is terraced and has a massive central
stairway facing an 8 ha plaza. The standard U-shaped complex has arms
80 m long surmounted by structures and sunken circular plazas (Burger
and Burger 1998:33; Quilter 1991:425). The Mina Perdida radiocarbon
measurements range from 3820 ± 100 B.P. to 2870 ± 90 B.P.
(Burger and Burger 1998:33).

At Cardal five superimposed constructions are radiocarbon
dated from 3120 ± 90 B.P. to 2690 ± 90 B.P. (Burger and
Salazar-Burger 1991:277). Eight semi-subterranean, plastered and
painted circular courts ring the complex (Williams 1980:107). The
atrium in the mound summit is not visible from the 3 ha plaza, although
the shallow landing decorated with polychrome relief sculptures is
visible (Burger and Salazar-Burger 1998:32). The complex is a standard
U-shaped, while atypically the arms are filled with sunken circular
plazas (Quilter 1991:425). Manchay Bajo is only slightly larger than
Cardal. These three Lurín Valley complexes are only a few
kilometers apart (Williams 1980:105).

CHRONOLOGY AND PATTERNS IN MONUMENT TYPES AND LOCATIONS

Several patterns interrelating monument location and
chronology are apparent. Preceramic period sites such as Aspero,
Río Seco, Huaca Prieta, Las Haldas, Tortugas and Salinas de Chao
are situated near the Pacific Ocean. Moseley (1975:47) has shown that
site location is an indicator of subsistence patterns and that the
Preceramic period coastal subsistence pattern emphasized maritime
resources. Initial period platforms are located away from the shoreline
and are larger than their predecessors (Moseley and Willey 1973:465).
The inland shift in early Initial period sites, such as Mina Perdida,
La Florida and Cerro Sechín, reflects the shift from maritime to
irrigation agricultural subsistence. Sedentary residence and corporate
labor practices during the Preceramic period may have pre-adapted
coastal communities for community scale irrigation and construction
projects, allowing easier adaptation to intensive agriculture (Moseley
and Willey 1973:466). The rich fisheries could easily have supported
the rise in population seen prior to the shift to irrigation
agriculture subsistence around 1800 B.C. (Moseley 1975).

El Paraíso represents a midpoint in the process of
inland population shift (Quilter 1985:282). The earliest U-shaped
pyramid complex is represented by El Paraíso. The Initial period
monument complexes have a typical shape, with mounds enclosing a plaza
on three sides. While it is understood that the U-shaped layout is
preeminent during the Initial period, most examples remain unexcavated
and therefore dating is not clearly understood, hampering precise
definition of the entire phenomenon (Fung Pineda 1988:85). The known
chronology suggests that U-shaped complexes began in the Chillón
Valley and spread to the Lurín, Chancay and Rimac River valleys,
then to the north (Williams 1985:233), with the earliest sites in the
Lurín, Rimac, and Chillón Valleys.

The U-shaped plan has a large extension in the Andes if
defined simply as a space enclosed on three sides by mounds (Williams
1980:97). While none of the U-shaped complexes are identical, they do
adhere to the general form with variations, and subtypes are shared by
several valleys and have chronological correspondences. Three coastal
traditions emerged utilizing the general U-shaped layout. The north
coast is represented by the Caballo Muerto complex and centered in the
Moche Valley, the second, on the north-central coast, is exemplified by
Sechín Alto (Figure 4) and Las Haldas in the Casma, and the
third, that of the central coast, follows the model of La Florida, Mina
Perdida and Garagay and extends from the Huaura to Lurín Rivers
(Fung Pineda 1988:86). I will refer to the prototypical Huaura to
Lurín tradition as the central coast U-shaped complex and
describe it before discussing the variation from the prototypical form
seen in the other two traditions. These three architectural traditions
may also correspond to spheres of cultural interaction, albeit
overlapping.

The central coast U-shaped complexes consist of a central
pyramid mound flanked by secondary platform mounds on the two arms of
the U, framing a plaza (Figure 3). The central pyramid is composed of a
nucleus and one or two asymmetrical side arms of lesser depth and
elevation (Williams 1980:97). The secondary mounds on the sides of the
U, consisting of various truncated pyramids, are lower than the
terraces of the central mound and typically non-symmetrical. The
atrium, an important element of the central mound, is a three-sided
depression in the mound open to the central plaza. A stairway joins the
atrium and the plaza via a vestibule at the base of the mound. The
vestibule, enclosed by thick walls or platforms with structures, is
usually square with a central entrance. The central plaza is often
massive, larger in scale than needed to gather the population. The
largest complex, at San Jacinto, covers 30 ha, and several of the
largest sites have plazas sufficiently large to have contained the
entire population of the Central Andes (Williams 1980:97-107). Table 1
presents data on the relative sizes of the plazas at 18 of the largest
central coast U-shaped complexes.

Table 1. Relative Size of Some Central
Coast U-shaped Monument Complexes. Sites are first ordered by valley
from north to south, then by area of plaza, largest first. Only sites
with known plaza dimensions were included (after Williams 1980).
Dimensions are in meters.

Valley

Monument

Plaza Dimensions

Width

Length

Plaza Area

Huarmey

Barbacay

100

300

30,000

Supe

La Empedrada

120

150

18,000

Huara

Huaura

450

600

270,000

Huayabal

200

300

60,000

Chancay

San Jacinto

500

600

300,000

Miraflores

500

400

200,000

San Ignacio

200

350

70,000

Grupo B

150

200

30,000

Cuyo

100

100

10,000

Rimac

Florida

350

400

140,000

Garagay

450

300

135,000

La Salina

150

300

45,000

Chillón

Huacoy

300

400

120,000

Chocas

150

400

60,000

El Paraíso

100

250

25,000

Lurín

Mina Perdida

250

300

75,000

Manchay Bajo

200

200

40,000

Cardal

150

200

30,000

The U-shaped form endures for over a millennium and spreads,
producing a more complicated scheme of overlapping phases (Williams
1985:231). Williams defines two periods and six phases for the central
coast U-shaped complexes, based on some radiocarbon measures and
primarily on stylistic considerations. Phase 1 of the first period is
El Paraíso, and phase 2 includes La Salina, Salinas and
Barbacay. Four more phases follow in the second period. Phase 3 is La
Florida and Mina Perdida, phase 4 is Garagay, Huacoy, Chocas,
Miraflores, and Cuyo, phase 5 is San Jacinto, San Ignacio, Huando B,
Huaura, Estación, and La Empedrada,
and phase 6 is Cardal, San Jacinto and El Salitre.

A change in monument styles is seen north of the
50 km separation between the Chancay and Huaura Valleys. The
north-central coast pyramids are characterized by sunken rectangular or
circular courts in the platform and they lack the characteristic atrium
of the central coast pyramids (Williams 1980:95). The north coast
pyramids also differ from the central coast complexes in the
rectangularity of the pyramids and are fronted by circular sunken
courts rather than vestibules. The earliest sunken courts were detached
from pyramids, as at Piedra Parada. After the two forms were linked the
relative size of the sunken courts increased over time until they
became the dominant part of the complexes, then they reverted to being
secondary to low, square platforms (Moseley 1992:137). Sunken courts
can have a depth of more than 3 meters and are usually about 18 m in
diameter, with a range of 5 to 80 m (Williams 1985:234). In the Supe,
Pativilca, Fortaleza, Huarmey and Casma Valleys the more than 100
monumental constructions include both quadrangular sunken plazas and
sunken circular courts in isolation and in association with platform
mounds. The large Casma Valley mound complexes at Cerro Sechín
and Moxeke-Pampa de las Llamas have axially aligned pyramid mounds on
opposite ends of a series of intervening plazas with and without sunken
courts. The north-central coast style of sunken court complexes and the
central coast style of U-shaped complexes are integrated at
Sechín Alto, the very largest Initial period center (Figure
4).

A variable tradition on the north coast, between
the Jequetepeque and La Leche Rivers, accentuates low, wide rectangular
platforms with rectangular forecourts, but there are also U-shaped
complexes, sunken courts, isolated platforms and terraced mounds with
or without summit structures (Moseley 1992:128-137; Ravines
1985:221-26). One unique feature of this region is colonnaded summit
structures. The Huaca de los Reyes monument, at Caballo Muerto in the
Moche Valley, is U-shaped in plan
only in its final stage (Conklin 1985:157-59).

Diffusion of architectural features between the
central, the north-central and the north coast moved in both directions
(Burger 1992:76). The U-shaped complexes diffused from the south.
Circular sunken courts diffused from the north-central coast, where the
earliest circular pits are found in the Preceramic sites in Salaverry,
Salinas de Chao and Supe (Williams 1985:235). Complexes with circular
sunken courts eventually occur from the Lambayeque to the Lurín
(Williams 1985:235). Merging of the circular sunken courts into the
central coast U-shaped tradition appears
to have occurred only in the final stages of these complexes (Williams
1980:101).

Another pattern evident in the monument complexes
is site orientations. At Aspero, among the various mounds, orientation
is variable (Moseley and Willey 1973:459). The orientation of the
Initial period U-shaped complexes is typically between east and north,
with the open side facing northeast and up valley, sometimes oriented
to a mountain peak or parallel to the axis of the river (Conklin
1985:144). Between Lurín and Chancay all the complexes are
oriented between 13 and 64 degrees east of north (Burger 1992:61), with
13 of 20 oriented between 30 and 65 degrees east of north (Williams
1980:100-01). Huaca de los Reyes is oriented 5 degrees north of east
towards a mountain peak. Both Construction A and Construction B at
Caballo Muerto face about ten degrees north of east (Conklin 1985:145).
Orientations of the various complexes in a valley often follow the
alignment of the main pyramid, suggesting a practice of astronomical
determination of orientations and the transfer of the orientation of
the larger complexes to smaller ones (Williams 1980:99, 1985:230). This
pattern indicates that the cosmological ordering of built space by
Andean
cultures has an early beginning.

MONUMENTS AS EVIDENCE OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORGANIZATION

Monumental architecture can evidence the complexity and degree
of organization of a society, as well as indicating aspects of
ideation, aesthetics and the social and political forms of organization
that built and utilized the constructs. Monumental public architecture,
as an indicator of societal organization, reflects both temporal and
spatial patterns of social and political organization. The functions of
monumental architecture can be elusive, even in the face of reliable
conclusions regarding the scale of the society. Moseley and Willey
(1973:464) see a problem with equating massive construction with
religious architecture. The social, political and religious forms of a
society can be independent, rather than synonymous variables. Because
individual Andean monument complexes are often the product of
accretional growth spanning, in some instances, possibly more than a
millennium (Burger 1992:82), conclusions about social and political
organization must also account for the temporally dynamic nature of the
societies in consideration.

The amount of corporate labor invested at the earliest dated
large monument complex, Aspero, suggests the beginnings of a complex,
nonegalitarian societies early in the Late Preceramic period (Moseley
and Willey 1973:453). At El Paraíso, the largest Preceramic
period site known (Fung Pineda 1988:72), the side mounds of the
U-shaped complex, the largest mounds at the site, were used for
habitation building (Williams 1980:101). El Paraíso seems to be
an exception to the rule that the monumental corporate constructions
are not residential. As is evidenced at El Paraíso, accretion of
large mounds begins in the Preceramic period with the infilling of
residential rooms (Moseley and Willey 1973:465). This accretionary
pattern continues in later monuments that are not residential.

While the Preceramic and Initial period sites evidence
monumentality of architecture and cover impressively large areas, they
lack the variety and range of architecture typically associated with
cities (von Hagen and Morris 1997:40-41). The sites lack the middle
range of buildings that suggest marked social stratification among
residents or specialization of production activities.

Decoration is among the various factors influencing judgments
regarding the function of the monuments. Niches, friezes, special
architectural decoration and wall and mural painting distinguish the
corporate constructions from domestic architecture (Feldman 1987:12).
The U-shaped platform complexes often include elaborate, monumental
adobe friezes and embellishing art. These embellishments appear at
complexes from Cardal in the south to Huaca Los Reyes in the north
(Moseley 1985:45). These have frequently been assumed to be religious
iconography.

Coastal architecture emphasizes the public display of
iconography and decoration. The central coast U-shaped pyramids were
painted in bright colors of red and yellow. In some cases, their
atriums were decorated with high relief polychrome friezes of modeled
clay with polychrome paints. Monument decoration is well evidenced at
two of the best known sites, Cardal and Garagay (Williams 1980:99). At
Garagay the Middle Temple stage atrium has sculpted low relief friezes
painted with yellow, white, red, pink, and grayish-blue mineral-based
pigments, with 10 layers of maintenance. The iconography combines
arachnid, avian, feline, anthropomorphic and geometric elements (Burger
and Salazar-Burger 1998:23; Fung Pineda 1988:90-92). A variety of
decorations is emphasized at Cardal, where the 3 ha plaza was surfaced
with white clay and eight circular courts are plastered and painted
(Williams 1980:107). The enclosed atrium at Cardal is fronted by a
visible shallow landing decorated with polychrome relief sculptures of
a large toothed mouth with prominent canines, while the unpainted
atrium is decorated only with a plain raised band (Burger and
Salazar-Burger 1998:32). This configuration suggest the importance of
public presentation and visibility of the decoration and symbolic art.

A wide variety of adobe friezes at Caballo Muerto is
concentrated at Huaca de los Reyes (T. Pozorski 1980:100). The platform
facade is decorated with high-relief adobe sculptures, including
gigantic, 3-dimensional anthropomorphic heads. The friezes are
decorated with red, yellow and white paint (Burger 1992; Fung Pineda
1988:90). Here also the friezes are situated for visibility from the
plazas. The differential distribution of the decoration also suggests a
singular importance for the Huaca de los Reyes complex not shared by
the lesser mounds.

Investigations at Initial period centers in the Rimac and
Lurín Valleys have provided few remains evidencing the
activities in the built environments on the pyramids (Burger and
Salazar-Burger 1998:31). Inferences have been drawn from the
organization of space, one that moves from open to ever more enclosed,
restricted and decorated spaces as one approaches the top of the
central platform, with a focus of use on summit structures (Williams
1980:100). At the same time Williams points out that we do not know
what ceremonies or rituals were conducted in the atriums or on the
summits of the pyramids. To Williams' short list, ceremonies or
rituals, I would add all possible social and political activities. A
behavioral pattern, on the part of the builders, of respect towards the
decorations is evidenced. Care was taken to avoid damage when the
decorations were covered by expanded construction (Williams 1980:102).

Estimates of labor are far more resolvable than social or
political activities. Labor estimates are useful determinants of
organizational levels (T. Pozorski 1980:102). Pozorski's (1980:109)
labor investment analysis at Huaca de los Reyes suggests three
divisions of construction activity, common labors, specialists in
masonry and stucco decoration, and a leader. The size of the structures
also imply population size, as do other features of the sites, such as
the extensive midden areas at all the coastal Preceramic centers with
public architecture. Estimates of population for the Preceramic period
complexes, ranging from 1000 to 3000 (Burger 1992:33), also suggest the
level of social and political organization.

A significant factor to consider when equating monument size
with population is building by accretion, the repeated remodeling and
enlarging of the same structure over long periods of time. The span of
radiocarbon measurements at Cerro Sechín, Las Haldas, Moxeke and
Huaca Prieta are all over 1500 years (see Table 2). It has been
estimated that the Initial Period pyramid complexes in Lurín,
Rimac and Chillón represent over 12 million person-days of work
(Burger 1992:69). Given the earliest date at La Florida, 3810 ±
170 B.P., and the last date at Cardal, 3120 ± 90 B.P., about 700
years elapsed during those estimated 12 million work days. An
impressive work force, of near 50 people working every day for 700
years, would have been required to build the monuments. It is important
to remember, when estimating energy expenditures by these coastal
populations, that a significant labor investment was also required for
maintaining the irrigation systems upon which 100 percent of the
agriculture depended.

An important factor in evaluating the amount of
labor is the areal source of the labor. At El Paraíso regional
mobilization of labor and regional site use has been debated (Moseley
1978:512), and the same regional corporate structure (villages of the
Rimac-Chillón coastal plain) may have built La Florida and
Garagay. El Paraíso, the largest Preceramic coastal monument, at
340,000 cu. m (Burger 1992:28), is built principally of cut stone and
exceeds 100,000 tons in gross weight (Moseley 1985:46). Patterson
(1985:59-66) calculated the subsequent La Florida construction volume
to exceed one million cu. m, and he estimated that about 6.7 million
person-days of construction were involved (more than half of Burger's
12 million day estimate for all sites, making Burger's estimate seem
conservative). The La Florida complex was built, used and abandoned in
a relatively short period of time, about 400 years (Patterson
1985:64-66). Patterson suggests that 500 to 1000 persons worked two
months a year for 200 years to complete the structure. La Florida's
standardized engineering and measurements, with walls of regular
thickness consistently made of double courses of fieldstones, suggests
a high degree of labor
organization.

Huaca de los Reyes' site volume is estimated at
41,250 cu. m, of which about half is silt clay and half is andesite
stone, a sum of about 55 million kg of material (T. Pozorski 1980:104).
Silt clay is found 3 km from the site, a canal for water existed 1.4 km
away, and rock was available, on average, at one km distance. These
facts produced a labor estimate of about 350,000 person-days of labor,
or 50 full-time workers employed for 25 years (T. Pozorski 1980:104).
The population of the site is estimated at 1,200 based on 600 ha of
irrigated land, yielding about 240 adult males (T. Pozorski 1980:104).
Of course, females and children can build pyramids too. The major
phases of construction may have been separated by a century. It
therefore seems reasonably possible that a single community could have
constructed each phase of the monument in a generation. Most major
structures required more than a generation for construction, evidencing
that the communities were capable of executing plans over a
considerable amount of time (Williams 1985:227). The ability to
coordinate architectural plans over many generations implies both
complex
social organization and temporal stability of the corporate
institutions.

THE DIVERSE INTERPRETATIONS OF THE EVIDENCE

The archaeology of the Peruvian coast has concentrated on
large scale architectural complexes at the larger sites. The monuments
demonstrate cultural change in both temporal and spatial dimensions as
well as demonstrating the social stability, complexity and capabilities
of the early coastal communities. The interpretation of large scale
architecture and its significance remains open to debate.
Socio-political organization is certainly expressed in the monuments.
Nonetheless a precise determination of the form of the coastal polities
or of the emergence of a state apparatus is difficult to establish and
archaeologists disagree regarding the social and political
organization. In this section I present a diversity of views regarding
the organization of the Preceramic and Initial period societies, and my
comments on these.

Quilter (1985:296) contends that the social organization that
built El Paraíso remains elusive, adding that the Late
Preceramic monuments did not necessarily require a highly ranked social
hierarchy and could have been built through lineage or clan systems and
without an authoritarian state system (1991:424). Quilter (1991:431)
maintains the conservative view that there is no conclusive evidence
for states in Peru until the Early Intermediate period, while
recognizing the possibility of considerable diversity in social
formations and degree of hierarchy in the Initial period.

Feldman (1987:11) maintains that corporate labor as an
organizational concept implies the existence of an authority with the
rights and ability to mobilize people and direct their actions. Feldman
(1987:12) notes a predominance of community works and yet sees little
evidence of status differentiation in the Preceramic. Feldman's Aspero
article (1985) cites social and economic interaction between river
valleys, and between the coast and the highlands, as well as dedicatory
caches and a high-status burial as important in interpreting social
complexity. Feldman (1987:11) interprets ornamentation inside inner
rooms on Huaca de los Idolos (illustrated in Figure 2) as indicating
higher status for those rooms, and he interprets diminishing door sizes
from exterior to interior as a pattern of graded access, with the
innermost room defined as an inner sanctum. These patterns then suggest
levels of ceremonial space open to selectively more and more restricted
groups of people. Feldman concludes (1987:12) that an elite group with
special functions and privileges existed at Aspero, the central
component in a nonegalitarian society. Feldman (1987:12-13) also states
that we have little indication of the rituals performed in coastal
structures. He (1987:14) concludes that data from coastal sites such as
Aspero clearly document the presence of chiefdoms with intrasocietal
ranking.

Feldman calls the Aspero society a chiefdom as defined by
Service in 1962 (Feldman 1985:83) while recognizing the definite
pitfalls in devising such a simple, discontinuous typology for a very
complex spectrum of social forms. Feldman (1985:83, 1987:9) believes
that the size, detail, and continuity of formal concept of the coastal
monuments through time imply formal control and evidence corporate
labor, and he recognizes what appear to be centralized polities
developing in a number of coastal valleys during the Cotton Preceramic
period. Feldman (1987:11) also interprets the Aspero rebuildings of
platform mounds as suggesting conspicuous displays of authority
designed to assert and validate the power of the central corporate
body.

There are only seven rooms on the Huaca de los Idolos. In my
view Feldman interprets this small body of evidence without adequate
foundation for his conclusions. While it is certain that human
activities took place in the rooms, Feldman presents no evidence of
what that activity was, nor do I find any evidence elsewhere indicating
what activities took place in rooms on platform mounds, other than
burning a fire, a common mundane activity that implies cooking,
lighting or keeping warm.

Fung Pineda (1988:78) considers the differences in house and
pyramid sizes at Preceramic Río Seco as evidence of social
differentiation, stating that the differences could reflect role
hierarchy. Fung Pineda (1988:94) states that the large inland center
established during the Initial period reflects the establishment of a
power structure which grew in strength alongside the religious
organization connected to the pyramid-temples. In this view the process
of social differentiation is founded in a politico-religious system
based on the economic power of a minority: the priesthood which created
a powerful repressive apparatus that gained control of the labor force
and built grandiose public buildings that served as a means of
extending the sphere of subjugation. I find this perspective to be
dependent on the unsupported assumption that the monuments are the
result of an impressive religious superstructure.

Fung Pineda is not alone in attributing a religious character
to the monuments. S. Pozorski (1987:15) notes the existence of complex
Preceramic period antecedents to Andean state development and
attributes state status to Initial period polities. According to
Pozorski, the lower Casma Valley archaeological evidence argues for
simple theocratic state-level organizational complexity by about 1500
B.C. Pozorski hypothesizes a more complex, late Initial period
theocratic state at Sechín Alto with consolidation of the Casma
Valley. Her religious assumption is evident in the statement that
temple mound construction ... was at its apogee during late Initial
period Casma Valley development. Sechín Alto has not been
excavated and the assumption that it was a temple seems based on an a
priori conclusion that the perceived polity was theocratic. Both Fung
Pineda and Pozorski assert the religious nature of the monuments or the
polities without supportive data for their conclusions. There is a
tendency for researchers to take for granted that monuments of such
size and form had a strong religious aspect, even if that was not their
only function (G. Cowgill, personal communication).

S. Pozorski argues that organizational principles and evidence
of intersite and intrasite hierarchies support the contention of a
state at Moxeke and another at Sechín Alto, each associated with
a smaller coastal community, Tortugas and Las Haldas respectively. The
exchange system between Tortugas on the coast and Pampa de las
Llamas-Moxeke, an urban settlement of 3000 people, argues for a
theocratic state, according to Pozorski (1987:20). A polity of
comparable magnitude at Sechín Alto evidences a similar exchange
system with Las Haldas. Variation between these Casma centers indicates
autonomy rather than valley-wide statehood early in the Initial Period.
This dynamic changes with time, and Pozorski writes (1987:21), clearly,
by virtue of the magnitude of its late Initial period construction, the
mound complex of Sechín Alto was the central site in a
state-level polity. The developments in the Casma and the Sechín
Alto polity during the Initial period were of far greater magnitude
than events elsewhere on the coast (S. Pozorski 1987:28). The sites of
Sechín Bajo and Taukachi-Konkán are oriented and
configured in conformity with the larger Sechín Alto and these
may represent a very large, single urban center, now obscured by
millennia of subsequent cultivation (S. Pozorski 1987:23). Unfinished
structures at Las Haldas, Taukachi-Konkán and Sechín Bajo
suggest that the late Initial period polity of Sechín Alto
failed abruptly around 1000 B.C. (S. Pozorski 1987:23). The
simultaneous constructions at four large complexes suggest the ability
to organize a significant labor force, probably including labor from
outside the valley (S. Pozorski 1987:28).

Coincident with the beginning of the Early horizon the pattern
of occupation in the Casma Valley suggests major changes, including an
intrusive, militaristic society (S. Pozorski 1987:25). Pozorski
(1987:28) concludes that Casma was conquered by a highland-based
secular state, and that both the Huarmey and the Nepeña Valleys
were dominated by the conquerors of the Casma polity. There were
dramatic changes in settlements, architecture, site layout, artifacts,
and subsistence in the Casma Valley resulting from an influx of new
people. Maize, camelids and guinea pigs, all highland staples, were
introduced. The Early horizon sites of Pampa Rosario and San Diego,
built soon after this intrusion, represent a completely different
architectural configuration without large mounds or axial organization
(S. Pozorski 1987:27). The apogee of coastal monument construction had
passed.

Pozorski and Pozorski (1987c:43) write that concentrations of
monumental architecture and exceptionally large monuments suggest that
major emerging polities formed in the Moche, Casma, Supe and
Rimac-Chillón drainages, with regional differences in styles
reflecting emergent political boundaries. The Caballo Muerto complex in
the Moche Valley may have been the dominant polity from the
Jequetepeque to the Viru Valley (Pozorski and Pozorski 1987c:43).
Sechín Alto is seen as influential from the Chao Valley to the
Huarmey Valley. In the Huarmey Valley the highly standardized sunken
circular courts suggest an early, valley-wide polity (Pozorski and
Pozorski 1987c:43). The concentration of sites in the Supe Valley
argues for a polity there, extending from the Huaura to the Fortaleza
drainages, with some difficulty defining the north boundary due to the
use of circular courts in both the Casma polity and the Supe (Pozorski
and Pozorski 1987c:43).

Burger (1992:87), based on Casma Valley data, contrastingly
finds little evidence of economic or social stratification during the
Initial period. He believes the groups of Casma were drawn together by
ideological, economic and socio-cultural ties and sees little evidence
of a political unity encompassing the centers. The Casma sites lack
emblems of bureaucratic status or standardized governmental
architecture that are the most conspicuous indicators of later states
in Peru (Burger 1992:87). Burger goes on to assert that the significant
differences in scale of the Casma centers can better be explained as
products of ecological and historical factors, especially duration of
site occupation, rather than assuming a political hierarchy. Burger
(1992:33) finds that the Late Preceramic societies lacked the complex
division of labor usually associated with complex public works
elsewhere in the world, and writes (1992:28), Preceramic Peru may
represent one instance in which societies created truly monumental
constructions without a coercive state apparatus. According to Burger
(1992:37) organization permitted large-scale mobilization of labor
before the appearance of marked socio-economic stratification.

In contrast to the views of S. Pozorski and T. Pozorski, Fuchs
(1997:159-160) asserts that the political landscape of the Casma Valley
remains impossible to reconstruct. These disparate views appear to be
founded in theoretical differences. If one defines the state or any
form of polity according to a set of archaeological manifestations,
direct evidence of political organization is unnecessary. If the
archaeological evidence supports a certain theoretical threshold of
complexity and scale, the form of polity in the definition is inferred,
irrespective of what actually occurred prehistorically.

Haas (1987:31) views the state as arising in the Andean region
near the end of the Initial Period, and cites La Florida, Caballo
Muerto, Sechín Alto and possibly Garagay as sites with elaborate
architecture of a significantly greater magnitude than other sites and
earlier sites. Haas argues that there are no examples of
ethnographically known chiefdoms accomplishing projects of equal
magnitude, inferring that the scale of construction at these sites is
far likelier to be the product of a state organized society. In this
view control of resources is seen as a characteristic of states, not
chiefdoms, and the monumental architecture as a manifestation of the
state power structure.

Webb (1987:162) considers the critical point in state
formation to be an epochal, though gradual, shift from voluntaristic
processes to coercive ones. He goes on to point out that what you look
for is what you get, that the central issue seems to be the point at
which one chooses to call a polity a state, rather than what caused the
state to form. Webb sees polities with direct, open, militarily-based
coercive force as unquestionably states. He considers this coercive
feature as the final critical determinant in the classification of
polities as states. Within this paradigm calling a polity a state early
in the process results in a less coercive definition of early states.
Of course, military or juridical force is not the only form of
coercion, and this definition could be expanded to ideological
coercion.

Webb (1987:167) suggests the term 'regional polity' as a
reasonably neutral designation of the transitional forms between
chiefdom and state, such as those exemplified by the Initial period and
Early horizon developments that exceed the usual limiting definitions
of chiefdoms, as expressed in Haas' view. Perhaps the term chiefdom
should also be supplanted with a neutral designation such as 'local
polity.' We, after all, also lack evidence of chiefs. Given Webb's
definition and the lack of evidence of military polities before the
Early horizon, the largest polities of the Initial period would be
regional polities rather than states.

This discussion of viewpoints illustrates the present
situation, one in which theory drives interpretation of the form of
prehistoric polities. A satisfactory definition of and the
differentiation of political organizations seem to be interdependent in
archaeology. In recognition of this situation I will not venture an
opinion on the forms of polities manifested by the early monumental
architecture. I would like to conclude with what I think the evidence
does indicate. The monuments do evidence a continuity of formal
concepts across a great span of time, the Preceramic and Initial
periods, with some degree of unifying conceptual framework apparent in
all the coastal monument complexes. Coastal Peru was an interrelated,
if not integrated, cultural area with common traits and a common
sequence. Similar patterns of continuity and unity can also be
expected, to a degree, in the elusive socio-political organizations of
the communities sharing so many features. The organizations of these
communities, whatever forms they took and functions they served, were
manifestly stable and successful. The early prehistoric communities of
coastal Peru certainly merit our continued study and investigation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This paper was written as part of the Complex Societies (ASB
555) graduate seminar at Arizona State University. Dr. George
Cowgill, our instructor, provided useful feedback to a preliminary
plan, a first draft, and the final version. However, any errors
or omissions are mine.

AFTER NOTES

June 2001. This paper is not a comprehensive
review article. Some publications about the monuments of the Peruvian
coast were not accessible at the Arizona State University library. It
does however reflect, I hope, the published state of knowledge at the
time of the writing. Many sites have yet to be excavated or dated and
our understanding will expand in the future.

Already, since the writing of this paper, data published
regarding the Supe valley site of Caral has altered views about early
coastal prehistory. Dr. Ruth Shady Solis, Director, Proyecto Especial
Arqueológico Caral-Supe and Director of the San Marcos National
University's Archaeological and Anthropological Museum in Lima, and
others* studied Caral. New radiocarbon dating was published in Science
in April 27, 2001. Shady, et.al. report dates between 2627 B.C.
and 2020 B.C. The size of Caral is impressive for that era, making it
the earliest known urban center in the Americas. Caral has a central
zone containing six large mounds surrounding a huge plaza. The largest
pyramid measures 60-feet high and 450-by-500 feet at the base.

The Shady, et.al. findings are revolutionizing
Peruvian archaeology, and undoubtedly will alter the views of many of
the authors cited in this paper and the information I presented. The
Caral research illustrates the state of continuing study of Peru's very
early complex societies and our changing understandings. See my Chavín de Huantár article for
discussion of earlier changes in the views regarding the chronology of
the early monumental architecture and cultures of the Peruvian coast.

Dec. 2004. New radiocarbon dating of 95
samples taken from pyramid mounds and houses in the Supe, Fortaleza,
and Pativilca valleys indicates that by 3100 B.C. there were complex
societies with a network of 20 separate major residential centers
creating monumental architecture and communal buildings. The new
research, published in the journal Nature, demonstrates that by 3100 B.C.
monumental buildings were found across the whole region, not just at
Caral.

Sept. 2006. Jonathan Haas and Winifred Creamer
Crucible of Andean Civilization, The Peruvian Coast from 3000 to 1800 B.C.
Current Anthropology 47:5(745-775) Oct. 2006. The six pages of
references cited include the most recent literature on this topic.

Feb. 2008. Peruvian and German
archaeologists have discovered the oldest known monument in Peru,
predating similar monuments and plazas at Caral. The
circular, sunken plaza, part of the Sechin Bajo complex, carbon
dated between 3500 B.C. and 3000 B.C.

Ancient Monument Placemarks
The Early Monumental Architecture on the Peruvian Coast
is readily visible on Google Earth. Placemark files.

Tokyo Daigaku 1960 Andes; the report of the University of
Tokyo Scientific Expedition to the Andes in 1958. Bijitsu Shuppan sha,
Tokyo.

Engel, F. 1963 A Preceramic Settlement on the Central Coast of
Perú: Asia, Unit 1. Transactions of the American Philosophical
Society 53(3).

Feldman, R. A. 1985 Preceramic Corporate Architecture:
Evidence for the Development of Non-Egalitarian Social Systems in Peru.
In Early Ceremonial Architecture in the Andes, edited by C. B. Donnan,
pp. 71-92, Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D. C.

Feldman, R. A. 1987 Architectural evidence for the development
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